America's 14 Most Ready to Riot Cities

[nadinbrzezinski]

Here's a list of 14 large American cities that may be ready to erupt. They have been identified by sorting common social, economic and demographic data including: unemployment, education, income, crime, housing and homelessness.

Other data was also included that might indicate probable "flash points" igniting unrest. These include: cities with especially high rates of reported police misconduct, high disparity between rich and poor, city budget deficits threatening social services, high incidence of hate crime, and large difference in home values between neighborhoods.

One such statistic is the Wealth Disparity Index is calculated as a "Gini" co-efficient. The index measures the inequality of the local wealth distribution. In this case, the closer the index number is to 1 the greater the disparity between the haves and have nots.

If the American economy should take another dive into "official recession" makes little difference if our cities and states become dysfunctional with a recovery that does not include jobs and a missing safety net to catch those victimized by an economic system based on fraud.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/America-s-14-Most-Ready-to-by-Chaz-Valenza-110811-723.html

I found the socio economic analysis well done. It does not mean we are going to have a riot tomorrow or the week after tomorrow or next year. But if you were going to have the CONDITIONS, that lead to one, these are the best candidates, but far from the only candidates.


Now necessary disclaimer... understanding why they happen does not mean one condones them. Sad that one needs to post such a disclaimer but such is life.

[zappaman]

1. I predict that someday

there will be a riot in America.
then, you will all bow to my superior intellect as I will have shown how smart I am to have predicted this riot.
bookmark this page to see I will be right!

[Little Star]

34. Here are the 14: New Orleans & Buffalo are a Tie

1. Detroit, MI:
2. Miami, FL:
3. Cleveland, OH
4. Memphis, TN:
5. New Orleans, LA: & Buffalo, NY: (TIE)
6. Milwaukee, WI:
7. St. Louis, MO:
8. Baltimore, MD:
9. Atlanta, GA:
10. Cincinnati, OH:
11. Long Beach, CA:
12. Newark, NJ:
13. Philadelphia, PA

[FarCenter]

54. what more could they do to Detroit?

Fire fighting should be easy with so few buildings per block.

[LeftyMom]

109. No Oakland?

Oakland will riot under any of the following conditions:
The Raiders win an important game.
The Raiders lose an important game.
The cops kill a person of color under questionable circumstances (this happens more regularly than the first one.)

[lies and propaganda]

124. lame

Raiders have sucked for years now and the fans have not rioted throughout.

[BigDemVoter]

111. Hmm. I would have put New Orleans at #1 with Detroit.

[LuvNewcastle]

118. I don't think it's as likely as it used to be.

The city of New Orleans lost so many people after Katrina that Baton Rouge became Louisiana's largest city. A lot of N.O. just feels empty now. If a riot does occur there, I don't think it would be a big one.

[thelordofhell]

103. Is that you Mark Cuban?

[Cal33]

104. I don't think what you wrote is called for. It doesn't give you any credit you either.

[zappaman]

107. "It doesn't give you any credit you either."

what does that even mean?
so sorry you don't like my opinion.

[anamandujano]

2. Watching the UK has been scary.

"understanding why they happen does not mean one condones them."
Yes.

Something needs to happen here but not like that.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Agreed that not like that, but currennt TRENDS

are current trends.

And the point is they just don't happen... they come from helplessness and a few other matters.

We have time to turn those around...

Also there is something else that to a point bothers me. People can comprehend why Tahrir square happened, in broad points... even Greece or even Spain... which have had a few very bloody rioty demonstrations... but this one causes visceral fear.

I get it by the way, it is just an observation, And I do not, ever, want to be even in the same state where one is occurring.

[Chorophyll]

27. Because Egypt, Greece and Spain began with organized protests of very

specific policies, or in the case of Egypt, a specific leader.

The UK riots might have begun with a small, local protest against a police shooting, but they quickly flared into mayhem and the wholesale destruction of working class neighborhoods in more than one city. The response was disproportionate to the inciting incident, and no leader has emerged to articulate the rioters' grievances. That's why a week later, it's still guesswork.

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. As I said in the OP, I get it why they happen

even if I don't condone them. And it behooves any society, not that it happens often, to try to learn the lesson and chiefly do something about it. It is nut JUST mindless criminality.

Oh and if you listened to community leaders in places like the BBC they have already told us the grievances

[Chorophyll]

35. The community leaders are not the rioters.

No doubt the communities in question have very legitimate grievances. The riots, however, seemed to have very little to do with those grievances.

[nadinbrzezinski]

37. And since you live in those communities you know this

from experience, you want to avoid another flare up you talk to community leaders. They are the ones who have their fingers on the pulse.

Look, you might not want to understand this, I mean they are yobos and chavs and useless and why doesn't matter. in fact you will not, so we both are wasting our times, have a good long day.

Buy bye.

No you are not ignore either, I am not going to continue this conversation.

[Chorophyll]

40. All righty then. nt

[jwirr]

60. All events such as this have a spark that sets them off and it is seldom

the cause, instead it is just the last straw. We will no doubt have riots if they continue to use austerity to fix our economic problems here. I would hope that we would use MLK's non-violent protest instead. If it comes to that I would like to see a general strike with other features that allow all citizens to peacefully demonstrate their anger and frustration. Those other features could include workers in vital positions wearing a certain color shirt to show unity, elderly placing signs in their windows, call-ins, etc. all on the same day.

If we do not do something like this first it will most certainly be violent.

[malaise]

38. Are you watching the protests in Israel

People are camped out in tents protesting neo-liberal policies but were you to depend on M$Greedia you'd never know

[nadinbrzezinski]

42. Especially US Media it took them three days

to talk London, and for god sakes they have bureaus there.

[RKP5637]

51. I need to look at that, yep, M$M, no coverage at all that I've seen. We are soooo

propagandized and manipulated. Thanks for posting.

[Raksha]

80. You're right - the first I knew about the tent city protests in Israel

was through an e-mail from Rabbi Lerner's Network of Spiritual Progressives, which contained links to three articles. That was about a week ago. I was so surprised because I didn't have a clue anything like that was happening. I guess most people still don't know. Not one word in the corporate media--then or now.

[Name removed]

81. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tesha]

122. Auntie Beeb (the BBC) covered them last night in their American TV news programme. (NT)

[Blue_In_AK]

87. I lived not far from Texas Southern University

in Houston during the "riots" in May-June 1967. Even though that was what might be considered a minor situation as compared to London, it was still scary enough. As is often the case, the police caused more harm than good in that situation -- at least in my opinion.

[laylah]

4. Though I completely

agree with your sentiment, will "they" listen to We, the People, otherwise? They certainly have not so far.

[hlthe2b]

5. wow, that site has become so overloaded with embedded ads

It sent my security programs into overdrive.... I had to go through and manually screen 14 different embedded items before I could safely look at anything. I guess opednews.com is not likely to be a regular site for me any more. I know they need to make $$, but some of those ads are malware factories... :shrug:

Here's the list if anyone else is having similar issues:

1. Detroit
2. Miami
3. Cleveland
4. Memphis
5. New Orleans and Buffalo (tie)
6. Milwaukee
7. St. Louis
8. Baltimore
9. Atlanta
10. Cincinnati
11. Long Beach
12. Newark
13. Philadelphia
14. ???? none listed. (seems the article badly needed an editor)

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. I know, I visit that place only when they post an article

that seems interesting to me...

Usually through the twitter feed. Their editorial policy is none whatsoever.

[milwaukeelib33]

16. NOLA and Buffalo tied n/t

[hlthe2b]

19. yes... did I enter something wrong?

I checked and that's what I had....:shrug:

On edit, I assume that you were pointing out that that makes for the 14. Duh... Thanks! ;)

[demwing]

21. thank you, I wondered that as well

too many ads, too little content, horrible editing, and the list is 1 town short...

[hlthe2b]

23. ...

Actually I missed the fact that two cities were listed as tied, so that does make 14... Still a rather iffy site, I think. ;)

[demwing]

26. Saw that as well. But generally, in such a list

where two items tie for placement, the following ranked item should correct the numbering sequence.

In this case, for example, where New Orleans and Buffalo are tied for 5th place, the next city, Milwaukee, should have been numbered 7th, not 6th.

[hlthe2b]

28. Yes... that's what confused me too...

[Blue_Tires]

79. No Oakland??

hard to take the list seriously without it....

[XemaSab]

91. I had the same thought

I wonder if the more affluent areas of the city keep Oakland too high in most categories to be considered. :shrug:

[LeftyMom]

110. I should have scrolled down before posting.

:rofl: Fucking Oakland.

[SlimJimmy]

6. Now you and Glenn Beck have something in common. You are both

predicting riots in the US. I'm not so sure I'd want to be on the same sheet of music with Beck.

[hlthe2b]

8. I don't think Nadin is predicting riots... just looking at the correlates

for social unrest... I would like to think these would become focus areas for addressing social inequity and lack of opportunity. :shrug:

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SlimJimmy]

43. That's what Beck was doing. I was watching current TV, then

Lawrence O'Donnell last night and one of them had a clip of Beck hyperventilating about the conditions being right for a riot here in the US.

As to the lack of opportunity, if this administration would just get to work on creating jobs (like they promised TWO years ago. Remember President Obama said he was going to focus like a laser on it) then we would be in much better shape. All I've heard from Washington is talk ... and talk is cheap.

My advice. Skip the vacation this year, Mr. President, and get Congress back in session to start work on it TODAY. I voted for you because this country was ready for change. Now, after nearly three years, I'd like to see some. So would the nearly 10% unemployed.

/rant off

[nadinbrzezinski]

47. The logic error is astounding

article was written by somebody looking at social conditions.

Article thesis states that these are the places to watch.

Somehow that is like beck predicting a riot.

It has a name son it is called poisoning the well.

As to the rest you posted, YOU GET IT, doing all that would reduce our chances of riots to zero. Or almost zero, you always have a chance of one for some idiot reason.

[SlimJimmy]

70. Beck was not predicting a riot, he was saying that the conditions

exist for one. Social condition like these have existed in this country from one extent to the other since our founding. What has changed are the norms by which we live. As those norms are broadened and social policies are diluted, riots can and have occurred. This is exactly what we are seeing in England. The chance of that happening here to that extent is slim, and none.

[nadinbrzezinski]

71. Would you like to go further back than 1776?

And yes riots have happened and in one case led to a revolution.

But conditions such as these lead to social flareups. At this point the chances of one are there, how high I am not sure... I am not saying, which you accused me off, neither is the author, to go get food and get ready for the apocalypse. Saying these are the likely places don't translate to we will have a riot starting tonight.

That is the leap of logic, and poisoning of the well you made.

[SlimJimmy]

72. Do you want to have a discussion, or do you want to baffle us with your BS?

A better discussion of social conditions that led to riots would have been the rebellion in New York during the Civil War. A rebellion that was put down by federal troops and cost numerous lives. Those days are gone, and we won't be seeing anything like them again, now or in the future.

[nadinbrzezinski]

73. A civil war is a riot? Mkay...

and that is why we should not have a conversation, you will continue to poison the well, have a goood LOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGGGGG day.

Oh and forget about the cover of ignore, you ain't going there, EVER,

[zappaman]

74. you have no idea what you are talking about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_draft_riots

as a student of history, I find your lack of knowledge of this incident to be baffling.

[SlimJimmy]

76. Thank you. I thought I was having a one way discusssion there for a moment. (nt)

[zappaman]

77. You're welcome

Some folks can't take disagreement or being told they might not know everything about anything...

[SlimJimmy]

75. The riots occured because of the draft imposed by President Lincoln *during*

the Civil War. Did you actually read what I wrote?

[nadinbrzezinski]

78. Ok so let's go through the hisory of riots

1730s, they were over land in New Jersey.

1774 they were over taxes, the stamp act in case you remember

The MAJOR draft riots in New York during the CIvil War

We had riots in the 1780s in places like oh Chicago, Haymarket comes to mind

Then we had a few in the 1910s

Then there is the ones that came during the Depression

And then there is the 1960s.

I did not say, which you claim, that we are going to have a riot tonight...

But all these had some conditions that were similar, some that were not... but what they all had was desperation written all over them.

That is one element in common.

But keep saying that I am like glenny and waiting for the riot next door TONIGHT... which you did. And when you start a discussion that way... there is nowhere for a discussion to go but down. It is called poisoning the well and a few of you are experts of just straddling the line.

have a good day.

Oh and PS a civil war is NOT the same thing as a riot. And I will ask the same thing I have asked a few of your pals, if you are so bothered why keep readying what bothers you? I know I don't open your threads... not interested, really.

On edit I forgot the Rodney King riots and a few more recently that have not been in the media, such as Miami

[SlimJimmy]

82. See, now we're having a discussion ...

The relevant passages from your response are:

But keep saying that I am like glenny and waiting for the riot next door TONIGHT... which you did. And when you start a discussion that way... there is nowhere for a discussion to go but down. It is called poisoning the well and a few of you are experts of just straddling the line.

I said you and Beck were predicting future riots based on prevailing social conditions. And a fair reading of your OP would certainly indicate that. So I stand by my original statement. Feel free to disagree. That's how discussions work.

Oh and PS a civil war is NOT the same thing as a riot.

The draft riots were *during* the civil war, not part of it. And they were *certainly* based on a sense of class warfare (prevailing social conditions; rich vs poor). To be honest, I highly suspect that you didn't know about them until I brought it up during our discussion. But that's okay; we all can't know everything about everything - I certainly don't.

[nadinbrzezinski]

83. No we are not, you still are comparing me to glenny

see keep poisoning that well

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/poisoning-the-well.html

Have a good long day...

[SlimJimmy]

85. I already explained why. Feel free to disagree and give reasons

why I shouldn't compare you two.

[nadinbrzezinski]

86. Have a long good day

buy bye...

Poison the well at your leisure...

[taterguy]

123. "We had riots in the 1780s in places like oh Chicago"

Please explain how riots took place in Chicago fifty years before the city was founded.

I look forward to hearing how that happened.

[Name removed]

64. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hugabear]

119. Even a broken clock is right twice a day

Doesn't take a genius to look around and notice that there's a tenderbox just waiting to explode. We're already seeing flash mob violence in certain areas, why is it so hard to fathom that riots might not be too far behind?

[SlimJimmy]

125. I agree that there is increased unrest throughout the country, but

I don't believe the "flash mobs" have anything to do with social unrest. These are just groups of thugs and thug-lights looking for some excitement. IMHO, we are still a far cry from full scale riots in this country.

[taught_me_patience]

7. Long Beach?!?!? No Effen way

Long Beach has some of the best schools in LA Unified plus a good Cal State Long Beach. Educated youth are much less likely to riot. Long Beach, overall is a great community.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. There are a few there that struck me as huh?

So I'd like to see the methodology of the author.

[amborin]

39. besides terrible air pollution, LongBeach has many problems...high unemployment, etc......

low college grad rate, etc......

don't confuse the cal state campus' characteristics with the city's characteristics....


http://www.city-data.com/city/Long-Beach-California.html

[Throd]

57. I love Long Beach, but much of it is a shit-hole

I lived there for 10 years.

[KamaAina]

65. That surprised me, too

I have a friend who's a community activist down there.

Within CA, I'd say L.A. would be at the top, followed by maybe Oakland (which dodged a MAJOR bullet, so to speak, when killer BART cop Mehserle was convicted) and Sac.

[XemaSab]

92. Fresno and Stockton might be too spread out

and too damn hot.

But there are pockets of serious poverty there too. :(

[Initech]

105. My brother student taught in Long Beach. He's got some really interesting stories from that.

[Raine]

120. Yeah, I find that RIDICULOUS! nt

[snooper2]

10. opednews...that should tell you everything you need to know right there

:rofl:

[hlthe2b]

14. Do tell? I don't frequent the site and noted the malware ads there...

But, I have occasionally seen articles from authors i consider worthy of reading posted there. :shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. They have a non existent editorial policy

they take things from almost anybody... these ranges from Reich, who has more than a few of his editorials there, to perfect unknowns.

You have to really look at the AUTHOR and methodology. THe safest path is to just read the authors with a name.

People complaint about Counterpunch, but at least they have an editorial policy.

That is why I do not mind the laughter, but the ARTICLE on it's own has an interesting thesis... and one that is sociological in nature,

[FirstLight]

13. narly...

What sucks is that I don't think the word *if* belongs in this discussion... but *when* :(

While many of us don't want to be near that kind of event, or condone it... we also know that we have gotten to a place where our votes, and voices are no longer effective. Push us too far, we say, and the consequences are enevitable....
and there will always be a faction of society who is all to happy to help tear it apart for us, they will act out our collective anger, for they have nothing to lose ... and how close are we as a collective to that kind of caving?

I guess the only thing to do is deal with our own contingency plans. even if we aren't expecting to be near an eruption, it can still effect us.
not happy thoughts for a morning cup of coffee :(

[RKP5637]

17. Not surprised. It's the growing Wealth Disparity which IMO is the root cause. Jobs

are not magically coming back, and paths to greater wealth seem nebulous at best. Frankly, I think we're in a national crisis with all of this, but to me at least most politicians are oblivious and/or know WTF is going on but powerless to fix because either they don't care, or have bought into the system and are owned by the banksters, wall street and the corned wealth of this country. So, we ride along with the wheels falling off.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Yep

[Kablooie]

20. If SS and Medicare continues to be hit a lot of retirement communities may riot.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RebelOne]

24. Miami is no surprise.

When I lived in that city, there were riots all the time, but only in the black neighborhoods. They would destroy their own neighborhood shops and homes.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. In other words the underlying coditions have never been fixed

right?

[LeftinOH]

29. I live in one of those cities- Cleveland. There aren't enough people left here to sustain

a riot for very long, but there are still plenty of chronically uncivilized a**holes remaining..enough to drive even more decent people out into the suburbs.

[MrScorpio]

89. You can say the same thing about Detroit

Apparently, the writer left out two important factors, our geography: Metro Detroit is one of largest cities in the country. We are really spread out, with a lot of empty space. What's to burn down? Much of it already has. And the second thing is our demographics: we've lost over half our population since the last time we had riots in the sixties. So unless some assholes from the burbs come into town for more than a sports event or a downtown festival, no one will show up for a riot.

The hearts of the remaining Detroiters are already broken.

[pintobean]

30. Unrecced for your snotty disclaimer

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. And after the accusation I will keep putting it on

live with it,

So you will have a lot to unrec.

:-)

Like you do all the time.

[pintobean]

36. You've claimed that you don't understand

why you get so many unrecs. I just told you why I did it and you get nasty with me. I don't always unrec your threads. I've recced some and don't bother on most. The people that have a problem with you do so because of your attitude.

[nadinbrzezinski]

41. SO it is simple, I don't open their threads

they could be adults about it... and not open mine. If it bothers them so much, just go on, move with your life and all that.

And we all have attitudes... we all do. And we do not please everybody.

As to that disclaimer, after being accused of condoning them because I happen to get it... it is a logic error called poisoning the well, I will keep posting that ok...

[pintobean]

45. Good luck with that

[nadinbrzezinski]

48. THen I will keep alerting on them

it is simple..,. I hate stalkers and some of them ARE stalkers and bullies too.

[pintobean]

50. Yes, you're the victim, nadin.

:eyes:
It's hard to claim you're being stalked when you have so many threads going all the time. When you're everywhere, you're going to run into some of the same people.

[zappaman]

53. transalation:

I don't like to be disagreed with and will whine about it....constantly.
Unrecc'ed for a horrible source and the constant gloom/doom coupled with the "woe is me" prevalent in every single thread.

[hlthe2b]

63. If you folks (on this subthread) could call a truce....

I know many many DUers that would be extremely grateful. :shrug:

[Name removed]

66. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Shagbark Hickory]

33. +! Very interesting. I was talking w/ my dad about this very subject last night and he predicted the

same top 2 cities that the article says.

[nadinbrzezinski]

44. I'd like to see the methodology

but it struck me as an interesting thesis.

[Shagbark Hickory]

69. Actually he predicted Atlanta and Philly too. I don't think the list is in order of probability tho

As for methodology, it's simple... what cities have the highest concentrations of unemployed young men who have the least prospects to advancing their lives. Those are your cities.

[Township75]

46. Does ready to riot mean a 0.0002% chance as opposed to a 0.0001% chance?

?

[nadinbrzezinski]

49. That is a very good question and since I am in none of htose

cities I have no idea...

Suffice it to say the one in Tijuana took us by surprise.

[closeupready]

52. I don't think your disclaimer is at all snotty; in fact, I think it is dead on accurate.

Too many people, even on the left, seem to think it's acceptable merely to turn on the water cannons, and end it, and then move on.

Well, we see how well unilateral responses of force have worked in Israel.

The history of how society adapts to inequality is .. it doesn't. Eventually, the inequality has to become moderated or else the poor members of society - who are the vast majority - seek a new social order.

[nadinbrzezinski]

56. It also came from the quite open charge that I condoned

a riot since I got why they happen. I understand why they happen. You do as well.

So it ended up becoming necessary to point this out.

And why the "left" we have nothing that passes for organized in the US... does that... it has accepted the social constructs of the media and elites. Something will have to give for that to change.

[closeupready]

59. A big part of that, IMO, is that media outlets are held in fewer hands than ever.

Making it easier for media bosses to keep management and creative personalities on-message: right-wing, free market, pro-business, if socially liberal (since those issues resonate with the left but don't hit anyone in the pocketbook).

[nadinbrzezinski]

68. That is why the net is the next frontier... for them

the net is still, from their POV, a wild west that needs to be brought under control ... corporate control

[RC]

84. +1 And rec'd it too.

I normally try to ignore those that just plain don't get it, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
I may post something and if they came back with the same/similar response, I move on.
The thread is going to sink out of sight, no matter what anyway.

[gratuitous]

55. And one other contributing factor

I don't know if it's specifically mentioned (I haven't seen it referenced in any of the posts so far) is the bone-headed stubbornness of some political leaders (see if you can discern which ones I mean) who will be goddammed before they give in to any blackmail from a bunch of dirty fucking hippies. People presenting legitimate grievances will be derided as a bunch of whiny malcontents, and in a misguided display of resolve, the leaders will refuse to consider that there are any problems except a bunch of lazy malingerers with too much time on their hands.

[nadinbrzezinski]

58. :thunbsup"

no, all people have done is go after the source. Admittedly OpEd News is a hit or miss. Sometimes they print things from Secretary Reich and Paul Krugman, at times not. And their editorial policy is non existent. So of course go after the source.

Some folks upthread have gone over the cities in question.

But what this tells me is... don't post things that make people uncomfortable at this point,

But what you said is very true. We are in a nasty pattern where hippie punching is ok... and it is not just leaders *cough Cameron cough* but also here.

[zappaman]

61. "hippie punching" LOL!!!

how about not everyone believing what they read on that site?
I could just submit an article with the "top 14 cities that could riot next".
it's not that you post things that make people uncomfortable....
but, hey, isn't it great that you are the one person who always "gets it"?

[HipChick]

62. K&R..a must read..the London situation was predicted by many

and ignored by the UK Govt

[nadinbrzezinski]

67. THey are rarely a surprise,

rarely... even if governments act surprised.

[DeSwiss]

88. We don't have to riot....

...just stop paying taxes. And setup our own banks (credit unions).

- That should do for a start.....

K&R

[nadinbrzezinski]

94. I am with you, a riot is the LEAST effective way of getting attentiion

and we MUST start thinking of ways to resist...

:hi:

[postatomic]

90. Conditions exist in far more than 14 cities

The study seems to 'cherry pick' data to fit the city they want to include in their Top 14.

It takes a trigger to build a riot. With the proper trigger they can occur almost anywhere.

[nadinbrzezinski]

93. Problem is in a list like this you need to cherry pick

and you could have one anywhere, when the trigger is right. But you need the back conditions that will lead to one...

They just don't happen...

[zappaman]

95. or you could just write down any city

and if one day one of them riots, you can say you predicted it.
here's my list...
Atlanta
Chicago
Los Angeles
New York
Miami
Pittsburgh
Oakland
Detroit

I study the trends and I fear one, if not all of these, may be next!

[postatomic]

115. Gary Hart, a local boy that I admire

Predicted 4 US cities that were most likely to be targets of a terrorist attack. I'm going off memory and can only recall three; Cleveland, Dallas, and Denver. I'm not even sure about Cleveland. He essentially predicted 9/11/01 so when he says something like this I'll listen but it doesn't mean I agree with him.

The 'back conditions' that you refer to are used by the author, a MBA and film maker, not a sociologist, to point out where 'back conditions' are at their apparent highest. What the author fails to point out is how these 'back conditions' exist in almost every major US city. The levels are high everywhere.

Read the article again. The author varies the 'benchmarks' from one city to another. No consistency. I would suggest that the author uses their own race/class biases to pick the "Top 14".

It's really a 'pissing in the wind' argument. Can it happen? Yup. Where can it happen? Almost anywhere.

[Motown_Johnny]

96. This Author Can Lick My Balzac!

You think this guy writing for OpEdNews (AKA we make this shit up) has ever been out of the New York New Jersey area? I seriously doubt it (and I went to school in N.Y.).


Screw this guy.



Give me a professor of sociology somewhere and I will consider the conclusions worthy of discussion.

[nadinbrzezinski]

102. Alas I don't have a sub to the sociology

journals where I am sure a paper or two will be in the works, if not already in the works.

The AHA would not be a good candidate, unless we were talking of any in the past.

:hi:

OpEd is hit or miss, we both know that

[Obamanaut]

97. After "readying" all the responses, unrec for the borderline rude disclaimer

in the OP.

Actually, it was "reading" all the responses. I frequently see "readying" as a substitute for 'reading.'

[zappaman]

98. "borderline"?

good one!

[Name removed]

100. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[maxsolomon]

99. Cincinnati has been effectively defused

the neighborhood that rioted (Over the Rhine, where i went to HS and lived in the 80's) has been emptied of Section 8 housing in a redevelopment scheme (http://www.3cdc.org/where-we-work/over-the-rhine/ ). The populace has been moved out to the western suburbs (where i grew up), and is too dispersed to riot effectively. at the minimum, there's nothing to loot except chili parlors and nail salons.

and it's a good thing, too. the Cincy Po would love to arrest more black folks - it's their #1 pasttime!

[WCGreen]

101. The problem in Cleveland is that they just had to lay off a whole mess

of safety forces...

This only makes it worse because the safety forces feel like they are up against it all alone...

[nadinbrzezinski]

112. Hubby and I were talking of our own city PD

which is beyond the bone. If we had a riot start, city is not on list. there is no way it could be stopped fast.

[thelordofhell]

106. I'll take a wild stab and say the city that will have a riot

Is the city who's professional sports team wins the championship.

[zappaman]

108. Guess we can rule out Phoenix then!

:evilgrin:

[thelordofhell]

121. I think we burned 1 car when our baseball team won the World Series

[BackToThe60s]

113. Rec, but

You left out Presque Isle, Maine! Jesus! After dark, those French Canadians stream in and go berserk!

[nadinbrzezinski]

114. Not my list...

:-)

Just brought it for some discussion.

[BackToThe60s]

116. Kosher

;P

[ProgressiveProfessor]

117. After the Rodney King riots, I would be more concerned about firefights

Store owners and property owners figured out that if your stood your ground and were well armed, your property did not go up in flames. After London and the ineffectiveness of the police there I would expect more US small merchants to be prepared to mount their own defense.